


Worth A Thousand Words

by Vae



Series: kink bingo fills [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, Exhibitionism, F/F, F/M, Light Bondage, Multi, Photography, Pictures, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-07
Updated: 2012-11-07
Packaged: 2017-11-18 04:12:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vae/pseuds/Vae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth's promised to pose for Jean's final year exhibition photos, on the condition that Simon and Helen can have copies to keep for the year she's studying abroad. It can't be that hard to model for photos, can it?</p><p>  <i>"We'll be there," Helen says, kisses Beth lightly, then reaches around her to hug them both. "Come on, before I think about asking Jean to include Simon in the pictures as well."</i> </p><p>  <i>"That wouldn't fit with his artistic vision," Simon says with a certain note of relief, lets go of Beth, and takes her hand instead. "Besides, I'm not the one going to America next year and I'm certainly not the exhibitionist in the room."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth A Thousand Words

The flat's cooler than usual. Some of it's the weather, but mostly it’s that Simon's turned the heating down lower than Beth’s become accustomed to. It's cool enough to raise a light prickle of goosebumps across her shoulders, but then again, Helen's robe is the only thing that Beth's wearing, and it's really not enough for an English April. 

Helen's smile is enough to make Beth convinced Helen saw the shiver she’d tried to suppress. "You're absolutely sure you want to do this, darling?"

"It'll be warmer under the lights," Simon promises, wrapping an arm around Beth's waist. "Jean's nearly done setting up, but you can still change your mind."

Simon's warm, solid, and Beth leans back against him with a sigh, shamelessly pressing into his heat. "I don't want to change my mind," she says firmly. "Really. I mean, it's not like anyone's going to look at the photos and _know_..."

"Well, some people might." Helen lifts a hand to tuck a stray lock of Beth's hair back under the wig, then leans past her to kiss Simon. "But no one who isn't already in the scene. And good, because I want copies of those photos to keep us company while you're away next year."

"Eight months," Beth protests, feeling the weight of Simon's arm tightening around her. "And I'm not going until September, we've got months yet."

"And months then." Simon's lips brush warm against the side of Beth's neck, bare and vulnerable where her hair usually lies. "He wants to start with the nude shots, so he doesn't have to wait for the cuff marks to fade. Ready?"

"You'll be there?" Honestly, it doesn't make any sense to feel so nervous. Simon and Helen have seen her naked countless times. Everyone at the club - with the exception of Gus, since he makes a point to avoid the club on those nights - has seen her naked on several occasions. 

Jean's never seen her naked. Yet.

"We'll be there," Helen says, kisses Beth lightly, then reaches around her to hug them both. "Come on, before I think about asking Jean to include Simon in the pictures as well."

"That wouldn't fit with his artistic vision," Simon says with a certain note of relief, lets go of Beth, and takes her hand instead. "Besides, I'm not the one going to America next year and I'm certainly not the exhibitionist in the room."

An exhibitionist who's never yet allowed herself to be committed to film, but that's apparently about to change. "Just promise me one thing?" Beth asks, squeezing Simon's hand.

"You know that depends on what it is." Helen takes Beth's other hand, thumb rubbing slowly against her palm. "Try us."

"Never, ever let Pete see the photos?"

Simon grins and Helen laughs, but they promise and that's what matters most.

~~~

Simon's the one who eases the robe from Beth's shoulders, but Helen's the one who kisses her cheek and leans in to whisper "make me proud". It eases the moment when the air whispers over her skin, fades some of the tension, and at least the room's familiar. It's the same bedroom she's unofficially shared with Simon and Helen for the last year, the one with Helen’s name on the lease. The bed’s the same. She knows the dresser by the window, she knows exactly how all of the cushions piled under the desk can be moved for padding and support in all kinds of ways, but the lights and screens are definitely new. Oh, and Jean. Jean's not usually there. 

Jean's also not taking much notice of her as a person. He’s not interested in what she’s thinking, using her only as a body to be moved into place to reproduce the images he sees in his head. It’s oddly easier than if he was actually talking to her. Most of his orders are clear and simple, and as long as Jean seems indifferent to her, it's easy to forget that she's naked. Well, naked except for the wig and for the pearls Jean insists on adding, doubled around her neck. They sit heavy over her collarbone, warming to her skin - or maybe the sun coming through the window. It's the window that makes her hesitate. Being naked in the room is fine, but being naked somewhere people could look in on is entirely different. Even if the same people might end up seeing the photos after they're printed up and exhibited. 

"I'm not..." She stops, hand against the wall, out of the direct line of the window. "Really? Isn't it overlooked?"

"People will see when these are exhibited." Jean straightens up from his tripod, frowning, shutter release still in his hand. "Where is the difference?"

"The difference is that you're not exhibiting anything we're not comfortable with," Beth says more tartly, resisting the urge to fold her arms over her breasts. "And I've got no idea who can see what through the window."

Jean sighs, setting the shutter release down. "Cherie, you have a beautiful body. You should not be ashamed of who sees it."

Beth's eyebrows rise as she chokes back her instant protest. She wouldn’t usually bother trying to censor herself, but Jean isn't her roommate and she rather wants to be able to continue visiting Simon and Helen without too much awkwardness. "I'm not ashamed. I just want to choose _who_ sees it."

"You cannot control who visits the exhibition," Jean says sharply. "If you will not do this..."

"Jean," Helen says quietly, her voice perfectly calm and even. "She said no. Can you light it another way?"

"Not without moving the lights." Jean folds his arms, swinging around away from Beth, attention switching to Helen. "I have set the lights for all of the shots I wish to use, I cannot move them now."

"Then move them later." Simon moves up behind Helen, resting one hand on her shoulder. "Do the rest of the shots first."

"And then she will be marked from the cuffs. My plan is for her to see her lover arrive, not to leave."

Beth sighs, moving to lean against the wall. She's had her say and she knows what she's not willing to do, but apparently Jean's going to continue to argue for that. 

Jean glances back, expression darkening. "No. Do not lean, your skin will mark. No marks."

"Not yet, anyway," Helen says softly, just loud enough for Beth to hear, loud enough to send a shiver of heat through her strong enough to counter the chill of the painted plaster against her shoulder. "Jean, can you reset and take the window shots after her marks fade?"

"The light will be gone," Jean says sulkily. "I must match the light for the narrative."

"I'm not standing in full view of the window," Beth says firmly, shifting away from the wall again. 

"So you'll be recreating it anyway if you really want those shots," Helen completes with a nod. "It's no good, Jean. You're not getting the shots you wanted. You never said anything about window shots when we talked."

"I was _inspired_." Jean sighs, dramatic, and pushes a hand through his hair, leaving it in disarray. "It will be much work to recreate daylight."

Simon strokes his hand down Helen's arm. "Then think how good that will look when you're assessed."

Jean's expression lightens, and he moves back to Beth, pulling the pearls back over her head, sighing impatience when they tangle in strands of the wig. "So, so, to the bed. Why do we waste this light?"

~~~

The sheet's not smooth any more, but Jean seems pleased with it. Beth's doing her best to follow his instructions, but Helen's are clearer, murmured into her ear before Helen moves back out of the shot. Between the reassuring pressure of the cuffs around her wrists, the heat of the lights on her skin, and the softness of the bed, Beth's beginning to drift a little. She's not exactly drowsy, not in danger of falling asleep, but certainly deeply relaxed, eyelids heavy when Jean's voice breaks through the comforting blur. 

"Look up at me now, cherie. No. No, not into the camera. Look beyond. Look at me." Jean's face is intent, expression serious drawing to a frown, and he shakes his head, free hand dropping to his side. "Non, not scared. Do not look scared, you must be softer. Seduce me. Trust me."

Beth's got absolutely no desire to seduce Jean. She's certainly willing to model for his shots, especially if Simon and Helen have copies, but seduction doesn't sound right. Seduction isn't exactly in her skillset anyway, but right now she just knows that Jean wants something from her that she's not giving him, and he's not pleased with her. If she's displeasing him, she can't relax, and that’s only going to displease him even more. She widens her eyes in an attempt to stop the heaviness dropping them closed and lets her teeth pull over her lower lip, biting deeper to try to keep herself alert. "Seduce you?"

"Invite me," he explains, hand held out towards her. He’s well out of her reach – would be even if the cuffs weren't holding her wrists firmly to the bedstead – but she can see his gestures growing. "Entice me. Show me that you are eager."

Eager doesn't sound like seduction to Beth, but that's why she's hesitating over seduction. Eager's clearer, but apparently her idea of eager isn't what Jean wants either, by the way he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. 

Helen catches his hand, shakes her head, and moves closer to Beth, crouching next to the bed, stretching out to rest a hand on her back, palm steady and warm on her skin, light pressure making it easier to breathe. "Alright, darling. You're alright, you're doing wonderfully. Jean, what's the story you're telling here? Tell me."

Jean shrugs, pushing his hand into his pocket. "She is with her lover. She has seen him arrive - "

"Them arrive," Simon interrupts. 

Jean glares at him. "You may have copies of the photographs, but this is not your story."

"Boys," Helen says mildly. "Not now. Simon, the sooner Jean's done, the sooner you can have Beth back."

"And that's enough incentive to get me to do most things," Simon says cheerfully. "Sorry, Hels."

"Don't call me that," Helen tells him, with the weary tones of someone who knows it won't make any difference. "Shut up. Jean, she's with her lover?"

Jean nods. "She has been waiting for him, already naked, so when he arrives, he has tied her. Only her wrists, to keep her to the bed, but this is what she wants, where she wants to be. Of course, she wishes him to join her, to touch her. She must tell him that, tell me that, tell the _camera_ that, without speaking."

"That's better." Helen strokes her hand over Beth's hair over the wig. It's a little disorientating. Beth knows the sensation, how it should feel, and she can see Helen's thumb tucking back a stray strand of hair, but she can't feel it. "Simon, go and stand behind Jean. Beth, look up at Simon, darling, lift your head up. I know it's a stretch, we want that. Show me the effort. Think of him touching you, think of his hands. Think how his lips feel on your skin, wouldn't you like him touching you now?" Warmth fades from Beth's back as Helen withdraws her hand. "Think about how he's going to be touching you later, how I'll let him touch you when Jean's gone. Maybe we'll keep our cuffs on you and turn you over, see how quiet you can stay when I pull your legs open and hold you there so he can eat you out. Look at him, that's it, look at his mouth, remember how that feels... Good. Good girl, like that."

Oh, lord, Helen's words. Helen's voice, that soft, low stream of words, so calm, so inviting. Beth draws in a breath, as much as she can, ache starting through her shoulders and pulling down her throat as she lifts her head as far as she can, tips it back to gaze beyond Jean to Simon. She knows his face, knows that expression, the darkness in his eyes, the faint curve to his lips that promises a smile that's not quite arrived yet. When his lips part, Beth's do as well, instinctive reaction mirroring his action. Helen's words, Helen's suggestions, and Simon's lips, Simon's focus holding her. 

It's a shock when the flash brightens the room. Her eyes close against it, opening again in time for the following series of smaller flashes, the rapid repeat steady enough to let her find Simon's face again, hold the steadiness of his gaze. 

"That," Jean says somewhere in the distance. Somewhere that Helen's voice isn't, and somewhere that Simon's face isn't. "Exactly that. And that is... oui. I will have proofs tomorrow."

"We'll have it tonight," Helen says, clearer and warmer. Closer. "Simon, bring Beth through to your room."

"My pleasure." Simon's hands are bigger than Helen's, stronger, gentler as he releases the cuffs from the bed, leaving them fastened together. 

As Beth follows his guidance off the bed and unsteadily to her feet, she rather hopes that it's going to be hers as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the pictures/photographs square of my 2012 kink_bingo card - many thanks to Ruric for the beta and the ladies of the Kradam mailing list for encouragement while I was writing (even if they mostly wanted me to finish this so I could get back to the werewolves...)


End file.
